title: Percutaneous arthrodesis of sacro-iliac joint: a pilot study.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Between 15-30% of patients presenting with low back pain have some SI joint involvement. The diagnosis of SI joint involvement in low back pain is quite difficult and depends on a detailed combination of clinical manoeuvres and injection tests. In 5% of patients with SI joint pain, the joint is physically unstable (termed disruption) resulting in ineffective medical and conservative therapeutic options. In this study we present the results of the first 12 cases of SI joint disruption treated using a minimally invasive SI joint arthrodesis system in order to evaluate the safety and the efficacy of this system.
  
  
  METHODS
  Medical charts at a single center were reviewed for demographics, perioperative metrics, patient reported outcomes for pain, function and quality of life (NRS, ODI and RDQ respectively), as well as satisfaction with surgery (yes/no) and results of postoperative CT scan.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Mean age was 53 years (range 36-71) and all patients were female. Patient reported outcomes at follow up (range 8-18 months) improved clinically as well as statistically as evidenced by a mean improvement in pain on NRS of 4 points, back related function on ODI by 19.4 points, and in quality of life measured using RDQ of 13.6 points (all P=0.01). Local hematoma requiring drainage was apparent in 2 patients. Patient satisfaction was 100%. All 3 month CT scans showed initial fusion.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The results of this study confirm that MIS SI joint fusion using the iFuse Implant System is safe and effective method of treating patients with SI joint disruption.
authors.affiliation: Unit of Neurosurgery IRCCS Policlinico San Matteo Foundation, Pavia, Italy - p.gaetani@smatteo.pv.it.
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Gaetani
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Miotti
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Risso
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Bettaglio
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Bongetta
authors.forename: V
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Custodi
authors.forename: V
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Silvani
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001174:Arthrodesis / Q000379:methods*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D017116:Low Back Pain / Q000601:surgery*; D008875:Middle Aged; D017060:Patient Satisfaction; D010865:Pilot Projects; D011788:Quality of Life; D012446:Sacroiliac Joint / Q000601:surgery*; D016896:Treatment Outcome